Papers are invited for a "Conspiracy Theories in American Literature"workshop taking place at the 20th Biennial Nordic Association forAmerican Studies (NAAS)Conference at the University of Tampere, Finland between May 24-26,2007. The conference theme this year is "American Bodies, AmericanViolence".

At least since World War Two, conspiracy theories have been conspicuous inU.S literature. Exponents include, for example, William Burroughs,Norman Mailer,Ismael Reed, Philip Roth, Thomas Pynchon and DonDeLillo. Thoughwriters concerned with conspiracy theories tend to be male, thetheories they address do not necessarily bear any other similarity.Novelists may focus on the secret power of the Left (Roth?s "AmericanPastoral"), the Right (Pynchon?s "Gravity?s Rainbow") or what JeanBaudrillard has called ?the simulacra? of hyper-real media images (DonDeLillo?s "White Noise"). This workshop will explore the relations, ifany, between such conspiracy theories. Further, it will interrogatetheir functions in ethnic, sexual and national discourses of whatconstitutes a ?true? (ie, non-conspiratorial) American identity.

Papers on other media concerned with conspiracy, such as cinema andtelevision, will also be welcome at this workshop.